PenOhio Competitor Takes Home First Place Writers competed in three rounds of impromptu writing and creating narratives in response to a prompt provided in each round. Each of the writers qualified for the State competition by scoring in the top 50 percent in January’s Regional competition. Grace Thomas ’19 took home first place in the Varsity division, outscoring 85 of the best high school writers in the state. Participating writers included: Junior Varsity Division Maura Bradesca ’21 (granddaughter of Mary Lou Kelly Kraven ’51), Abby Collins ’21, Olivia Pelley ’21 and Darby Smith ’20 Varsity Division Maggie Cornelison ’19 (sister of Helen Cornelison ’16), Grace Thomas ’19 and Angela Weiland ’18
Front Row, L-R: Maggie Cornelison ’19, Olivia Pelley ’21 and Darby Smith ’20. Back Row, L-R: Maura Bradesca ’21, Abby Collins ’21, Angela Weiland ’18 and Grace Thomas ’19
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even students competed at the inaugural PenOhio High School State Championship at The College of Wooster. PenOhio is a high school writing league comprised of public, private and parochial
schools across the state. The competition allows students an outlet to see significant literary talent “praised, inspired and rewarded.” PenOhio offers competition and opportunity for scholarships.
The team was coached by Instructional Coach Mrs. Keri Grady and Student Support Services Mrs. Becky Goede McNulty ’96. Congratulations, Grace and the entire PenOhio team!
Students Take Top Honors in Ohio K-12 Chinese Essay Contest Four students took top honors for the 2018 Ohio K-12 Chinese Essay Contest awards among the 9-12 grade group on Saturday, April 21. The Ohio K-12 Chinese Essay Contest is an annual competition for high school, middle school and elementary school students from all over the state. Students compete by either composing an essay or giving a speech in Chinese on a selected topic. Chinese language experts serve as judges and prizes are awarded at the end of the competitions. Sivven Oung ’19 won first place in the speech and essay contest taking place at Cleveland State University. Sivven is an international student from Cambodia, speaking Cambodian at home, not Chinese. Placing second in the essay competition were Abby Votaw ’18 and Reagan Bushok ’20, and in third place was Natalie Quellos ’18. The students competed against others studying Chinese language throughout many districts across Ohio. Competitors were given a prompt and instructed to hand write an essay in the Chinese language. Saint Joseph Academy students were able to achieve the first place prize, both second place prizes and one of three third place prizes. Congratulations Sivven, Abby, Reagan and Natalie! 2
Saint Joseph Academy UPDATE
Sivven Oung ’19